


A lost Friend and a Fool

by TfWhyNoy



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Quirrel is dead, and tiso is not help you grieve in the slightest, heavy foreshadowing about things to come, reader get's very angy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-12 20:55:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29016990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TfWhyNoy/pseuds/TfWhyNoy
Summary: Quirrel had been the one friend you had made out in the wilds. When you lose him it hurts so you sit at the lake while you mourn. Of course, another bug just has to come along and piss you off...
Relationships: Quirrel (Hollow Knight)/Reader, platonic - Relationship
Kudos: 16





	A lost Friend and a Fool

Quirrel was gone. You had tried to find him again, looking all over the kingdom hoping he just settled somewhere else but found nothing of him. All that was that reminded you of him was his nail. 

It was still stuck in the ground across the lake. If you squinted you could just barely see it, a little fuzzy silver line jutting out from the ground where you had last seen him.

You hadn’t known Quirrel particularly well. He was a traveler you had always ended up bumping into from time to time. Originally you two had met in a different set of ruins. An old religious temple in the middle of nowhere; it had practically called out to you, begging for you to uncover the secrets hidden in those ancient halls. You two bonded over a shared love to explore the uncharted and unknown. It was simple but friendly faces were few and far between in the wilds.

When you had found him again in Hallownest you had been ecstatic. So ecstatic in fact you accidentally fumbled over your own attempt to greet him, the words jumbling in your mouth into indiscernible gibberish.

“It’s a pleasure to see you again my friend,” He had said with a chuckle.

Friend. You really liked that word, liked that he had called you his friend. You didn’t have many of those anymore and the thought of such a sweet bug like Quirrel being your friend was enough to have you beaming.

You two had bumped into each other a lot in Hallownest. Often exchanging a comforting word or two, giving advice or warning about how to handle tricky enemies that wandered around in nearby areas, even wistful thoughts about places Quirrel took a particular shining to.

When you saw him sitting at the Blue Lake without his mask… He was practically hunched over, hands rubbing at his joints. A weariness you had never seen in his eyes had overtaken his cheerful, almost coy, look he often held. The bleary stare he gave to the lake made him feel so much older than you had ever seen him. He felt… Ancient.

When you sat and talked to him he talked about finally feeling at peace. Quirrel had seen the whole kingdom and all its beauties again; all while being able to share all he saw with you, his friend.

He almost looked pained as you attempted to thank him. It all just felt so final the way he spoke. You refused to acknowledge that, you’d see him again, you had to.

As you sat on the opposite side of the lake you had seen him last you tried to figure out why this one bug was affecting you so much. You couldn’t even sit where he had, grief twisting your stomach into painful knots just at the thought.

You jumped slightly when someone behind you scoffed. Whirling around you saw a bug you had never seen before. They wore thick metal armor with large pauldrons on their shoulders, their face was completely obscured beneath their hood so you could only just see where their eyes were from the reflection of light. 

“How can you stand a place so dull?” The ‘s’ sounds were drawn out enough it almost sounded like he was hissing in disdain, voice high pitched and almost nasally.

“What?” 

“It’s serene, peaceful, boring. How one could just sit and waste time baffles me,” you couldn’t see his face but you could practically hear the scowl dripping from his voice.

“If you hate it so much why are you wasting your time here?” You spat back.

“The coliseum is near. That is why I came to this decaying burrow, to test my skills as a warrior in vicious combat in that arena.”

Now you’re scoffing at him. You had seen the arena, no mortal bug could make it through that. Everything reeked of infection there, the creatures were bred to not just maim but kill for the twisted minds of those that watched.

“And how do you expect to survive such a place? I’ve seen what you seek, you’ll be slaughtered within seconds.”

“Oh, you think this shell a defensive arm,” He raises his shield and practical presents it to you with a smug tone in his weaselly voice, “It contains a deadly surprise that you should pray to never find out,” He straightens again as he continues, “A warrior such as I shall crush all those who think themselves foolish enough to face me.”

“Your overconfidence is going to get you slaughtered.”

He practically squawks at you in anger. “And how could you know that. You’re clearly not a fighter, just a random bug moping at the edge of some stupid lake!”

“I’m not moping!”

“Then what are you doing looking like a pathetic tiktik about throwing themself into the water?”

“I’m mourning you lubberwort!”

He seemed to pause for a moment to think but before he could say something else you snapped again.

“My one friend is gone, the only proof he ever existed is across this blasted lake!” You pointed at the distant nail, not caring if he could even see it, “And now I have to deal with your foolish thorax talking as if you were an immortal no one could touch!” you were practically shouting now, “If you want to go to the infested coliseum then by all fucking means go! I hope you get crushed to death and flung to the pits below to never be seen again!”

You turned away from him, angrily rubbing away tears that threatened to spill. He started to say something but you ignored his angry voice. You didn’t care about him, about anything he had to say ever again.


End file.
